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MONGOL NAADAM FESTIVAL


The origin of the Naadam festival is truly ancient.” Naadam” means festival or feast of sports. Therefore, it is correct to say "Naadam" instead of Naadam Festival. The Naadam is locally termed “Eriin Gurvan Naadam” which means “three manly sports.” The three sports are horse racing, wrestling, and archery. A traditional ankle-bone-shooting game was added later. So there are four games during Naadam.
Women can participate in a horse race, archery, and ankle-bone shooting, but not in wrestling.
In ancient times, the Mongolian kings and military generals used to train the warriors and warriors' main war tool horses while competing and feasting during the three manly traditional sports. It has been celebrated as a national holiday since the Mongolian People's Revolution in 1921.
Mongolians dress in colorful traditional clothes and ride their most beautiful horses when attending the Naadam in the countryside. The official celebration takes place throughout the country on 11 and 12 July, annually. Particularly, the State Naadam Festival in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, is the most marvelous one, involving a wider range of and the most outstanding competitors of the games.
Apart from the sports events, there’s a lot of music, parades, traditional dress and local delicacies to be enjoyed.
Everyone is so looking forward to Naadam that after each Naadam, Naadamers moan that the next Naadam is too long to wait. Don’t be one of those moaning about next Naadam being too long to wait! Come travel to Mongolia with us to experience this Festival, which is the only one of its kind, in the world.





Deeltei Mongol Festival

Just a day before Naadam Festival officially starts, on July 10, Deeltei Mongol Naadam-Mongolians in National Costume Festival is annually organized at the central square of Ulaanbaatar and offers you to meet people with a lot of traditional Mongolian clothing on display.
Mongolian National Costume Festival Programs: Opening ceremony, Parade of participants dressed in national costumes, Ceremony of the Nine White Banners, Mongolian Costume National runway, Cultural performance, Contest of a best-dressed couple (in Mongolian national costume)’, Contest of a best-dressed foreigner (in Mongolian national costume), Contest of public dance and Best Dancing Couple, Closing ceremony-Award ceremony (Most actively participated organizations, most actively participated and well-organized district)
During the festival many other cultural events such as exhibitions of national dress, souvenirs,s, and other cultural promotions are organized.


Naadam Festival Opening Ceremony
which starts at about 11 am at the Naadam Stadium in Ulaanbaatar, includes an impressive march of monks and athletes, plenty of music, most colorful and amazing parades. The first round of the wrestling, which starts at about noon on day one in the main stadium, is the more interesting and photogenic.You will see the grand opening of the Naadam festival which involves Mongolia’s president, celebrities, fashion models, contortionists, and much more. The festival kicks off with a colorful parade of athletes, soldiers, musicians, and people dressed in ancient warriors’ costumes, and then it turns to competitions as wrestling, archery and horseracing.


Mongolian National Wrestling
The Mongolian government officially awards national titles to the wrestlers; therefore, only the most prominent wrestlers compete in the State or Ulaanbaatar’s Naadam. Wrestlers wear special clothes which show the beauty and strength of their bodies.
Mongolian Wrestling contests at Naadam, 512 or 1024 wrestlers meet in a single-elimination tournament that lasts nine or ten rounds. As there is no weight class. Before the contest wrestlers perform an eagle dance to limber ups and displays their fine physiques.
The costume of the wrestler consists of great heavy, decorated boots, a small long sleeved top with bare chest and even smaller pair of briefs. The pride of Mongolia is the wrestler. The men participating in this event are revered by all Mongolians and the winner is given the most prestigious title of “Lion”.

Mongolia Naadam Horse Racing
Horse racing is the favorite sport of the herders who bring their best horses from great distances. Unlike Western horse racing, which take place outside the city on the steppe over distances from 15 to 30 kilometers, are a test of endurance for the horses and riders, boys and girls.
The riders are aged from 6 to 12 Mongolian children of these ages are good riders, as both boys and girls have been riding since infancy. Both child and horse are decorated in bright silks and ribbons for race day.
During the races, up to 1000 horses gathered from every corner of Mongolia can be chosen to compete divided into six categories based on the age of the horses. For example, two-year-old horses race for 10 miles (16 kilometers) and seven-year-olds for 17 miles (30 kilometrs). Race horses are fed a special diet.

Naadam Festival Archery
Archery contests continue a tradition dating from the time of Genghis Khan when they were intended to sharpen military skills. Contestants use compound bows fashioned from sinew, wood, horn and bamboo, and strung with bull tendon.
Men fire 40 arrows made from willow branches and griffin vulture feathers from a distance of 75 meters and women deliver 20 arrows from 60 meters at a target.
In accordance with ancient custom, several men stand on either side of the target singing a folk song to cheer the contestants and then use hand signals to indicate the results.

Naadam Ancle bone shooting game
Ankle bone shoots – Another popular Naadam activity is the playing of games using shagai, sheep anklebones that serve as game pieces and tokens of both divination and friendship. In the larger Nadaam festivals, tournaments may take place in a separate venue.Naadam is called “Erin Gurban Naadam” meaning “three manly games”. The three manly games/sports are archery, wrestling and horse racing. The ankle bone shooting is a UNESCO registered World Heritage game, and was officially added to the Naadam games in 1998. -Ankle-bone shooting competitions can be held in teams or among individual players. The Naadam festival ankle-bone shooting is played in teams. There are ankle-bone shooting tents or fields at the Naadam arena. There are several games in progress at the same time. Each team has 6 main players, plus two stand-by players. -A player shoots target bones put in rows on a small wooden structure called “Zurkhai”. Behind the Zurkhai is an Aravch board, which helps the target bones and bullet bone not to scatter. The shooting target distance is 4.7m.

MONGOLIA NAADAM TOURS

July 9, 2022 Tour of Naadam Festival, Hustai National Park, Terelj National Park 7 days

The Naadam Festival where you can experience Mongolian Sumo, Mongolian Horse Racing, and Mongolian Archery. Enjoy eating a huushuur that is indispensable of the Naadam Festival.

Departing July 05 Naadam Festival, Kharkorim Ruins, Tsenkher Hot Spring, Hustai National Park 8 days

Erdenezuu Temple surrounded by white walls, Karakorum Museum, Tsenkher Hot Spring, Nomadic Ger Visit, Horseback Riding Experience

July 9th Naadam Festival Event, Gobi Desert, Khongor Sand Dunes, Bayanzag, Central Gobi Sightseeing 8 days

8 days tour to enjoy the spectacular views of the Gobi Desert/Khongor Sand Dunes, Yoliin am Valley, Bayanzag/Central Gobi after a tour of Mongolia's largest event, 3 nights in the city, and 4 nights in Ger.

Departing July 09 8 days to meet Naadam Festival event, Lake Khuvsgul, reindeer

"Switzerland in Mongolia" Lake Khuvsgul is the largest crystal clean lake in Mongolia near the Russian border